Temperature
by Fading Grace
Summary: ...A series of short Hitachiin things. 100 words each. Now a romance... now actually telling a story despite my best efforts. And now complete.
1. Temperature

This is going to be a series. So far, both that I have written are 100 words, but I don't know if they all will be. Or if they'll all be from Kaoru's point of view. But they will all be Hitachiin friendship or love, whichever strikes you as being present.

* * *

His skin is always the same temperature as mine. We're twins. It's a twin thing.

The fun part about it is that, when I touch him, it doesn't feel any different from touching myself. It's the same texture, the same tension, the same solid weight behind it.

That's what really reminds me that we are in it together. We're stuck with each other, and it's just fine because Hikaru's not exactly the kind of guy to change on me without notice.

It's just…

It's just a very comforting thought, that someone out there has skin the same temperature as me.


	2. Eyes

Maaa... 100 words. Cute.

* * *

"What the hell was that?" Kaoru demanded. "You were gazing _oh so love-stricken_ into her eyes the entire time she was talking!"

Hikaru looked down. "Look, I'm sorry. It didn't mean anything."

Kaoru wouldn't listen. "You were practically kissing her! That didn't mean _nothing_, either, Hikaru!"

Hikaru mumbled something.

"What?"

Their eyes met, and, resolutely, Hikaru said, "I was looking at eyes that weren't exactly like mine."

Kaoru didn't know how to approach this. Slowly, he swallowed and asked, "A-and?"

Hikaru didn't like the fear in Kaoru's eyes. He winked and touched their foreheads together. "They just don't compare, Kaoru."


	3. Voice

For a couple of years after we learned to lie, our parents told us apart by knowing that Kaoru had a higher voice. They kept a baby monitor in our room and would listen to us talk to each other, I guess just because Mom had this voyeur-ish thing about knowing that her boys got along.

I could mimic 'Kaoru's' high voice perfectly, switching back and forth all alone while Kaoru foraged for sweets in the kitchen.

I always did it. Kaoru could, I know it, but he always refused to fake a lonely conversation.

I never figured out why.


	4. Ew

One day in our room after school, Kaoru asked, "Did _you_ know that normal guys our age have huge ego hang-ups about size?"

I poked him lazily in the side instead of verbally asking for clarification.

"Size of… y'know. Down there."

"Ew. Really?"

"Apparently. That jerk Kido was bragging in PE."

"Ew."

He moved onto his side until his hair tickled my stomach.

I asked, "Wait, why?"

"This is the weirdest part. Apparently, they're not all the same size."

"Really?"

He grinned. "Really."

I sighed and said seriously, "Kaoru, the Outside is a really weird place."

"Don't I know it."


	5. Weather

My favorite weather is when it's cloudy and windy. I mean, yeah, it's really kind of unpleasant and it's cold, but so am I.

Kaoru says that his favorite weather is when it's cloudy and windy, too.

I think that he's lying.

Cloudy and windy and unpleasant and cold fits me, but not Kaoru.

Sunny weather, bright and confident and brave enough to walk into the world outside of us…

I think that Kaoru's favorite kind of weather should be when it's _sunny_.

But he says he loves when it's cloudy and windy.

After all, we're the same.

Twins.

Right?


	6. The Talk

Warning: This is about the twins getting the Talk.

* * *

When we were eight, we walked in on an adult movie that our parents were watching. It's disturbing to think of it now, but we didn't know enough about it to be scarred for life or anything.

Well, Mom and Dad were mortified. So, Dad was in charge of giving us the Talk.

After a straightforward lecture on the ins and outs of sex, we tried to figure out the things we hadn't understood. Like the word 'lubricant'.

We didn't even think to ask how a _boy and a girl_ would fit together.

Dad's a practical guy. Always has been.


	7. Friend

In second grade, a new boy joined the class. he was naïve and very easy to trick. A guileless character.

Hikaru and I were mean to him, making fun of his accent, calling him a noveaux-riche dunce – our favorite new phrase.

We had behavior problems, and, one recess, the teacher talked to Hikaru without me.

I was all alone.

The new boy came and talked to me, keeping me company. He showed me kindness.

I suppose he was a friend.

An experience without Hikaru. It terrified me.

Hikaru never knew.

It's funny. I can't even remember the boy's face, now.


	8. Patience

I am more patient.

Hikaru, with nothing to look at and nothing to hear, becomes bored within thirty seconds. Twenty-six seconds, give or take a few.

I think. I'm alone in my mind.

I don't like thinking.

So, I think about Hikaru.

I think about how to be like him.

When his leg bounces, so does mine. Because we have the same amount of patience.

He scratches his arm. Would twins have identical itches?

That's when I become afraid. When I start to think of the concept of twins in the third person.

I only hope that Hikaru doesn't know.


	9. Religion Pt 1

On the subject of religion:

The chances of Mom's egg developing abnormally – because of a mistake in the cell's mitosis trigger being weird and overworking itself – were astronomically against.

Well, not astronomically, but you don't see twins skipping around all the time.

Without Kaoru, I wouldn't be Hikaru.

So if Mom's egg hadn't gone wonky, neither of us would have existed.

She would've had just one very lonely boy to screw up, and he would have had to act the part of both of us at once.

Coincidence? I don't think so.

Religion is one thing the Outside got right.


	10. Religion Pt 2

On the subject of religion:

The chances of Mom's egg developing abnormally were astronomically against.

Well, not astronomically, but you don't see twins skipping around all the time.

If we weren't twins, we wouldn't have existed. More than the obvious way, I mean.

If I didn't have Hikaru, I wouldn't be Kaoru.

There would only be one of the both of us. No more worrying about thinking the same – we would _be_ the same.

But we are separate.

Unlucky.

Astronomically unlucky.

What the hell kind of joke is this, making one person into two?

No. Religion is not for me.


	11. Ebony

I found a piece of carbon in the middle of the diamond mine that is FF Net, and this came.

* * *

We would just like to say that we hate the word ebony. Ivory, too. We swear, if we hear another poem to Kyouya about 'ebony locks' and 'skin like porcelain ivory', we will actually kill someone. Probably the girl who wrote it.

What the hell is 'porcelain ivory', anyway?

Flowery language is not for us. It's all so generic.

Find some way to say 'river' besides 'sparkling stream'.

And, for the love of all that is good and holy, never describe eyes as _orbs_ ever again. We will come over there and we will fight you.

…Too many fangirls, today…


	12. Conversation

The second thing. The hickey thing. I'm sorry, but... looking at the things I've written for this, I'm going to take it down. And no one else gets to see it. So... those of you who have, you're lucky. It's just going to mess up the congruity of the entire... you know. Kajigger. Collection, if it may be called such.

* * *

We don't talk anymore.

We know each other's thoughts by now. It would be useless to talk about something we both have the same opinion about.

Walk into the room, say hello to Hikaru, set my bag on a chair, freeze, turn back.

Silence.

The girl – one of the nameless, faceless girls – excuses herself and leaves.

Silence.

Hikaru says, "Kaoru…"

I sit down on the couch next to him, in the girl's warmth.

Just some girl. Not even Haruhi. I could understand if it was Haruhi.

We don't talk anymore, but I never expected him to talk to someone else.


	13. Lie

Being so similar is really fun sometimes. The rush of lying – of knowing that you control a part of that person's world – can be as good as sex.

…Um, or so I've heard.

Everyone else thinks that lying is bad, and everything.

We say: if we have the means, why do we need a motive?

Sometimes, Kaoru frowns, though. I mean, as though he… he disapproves, or something.

Kaoru disapproves of lying?

That and tricking people – basically the same thing – are the two main sources of fun for us.

He never told me.

How could he never tell me that?


	14. Different

I'm sorry. All of you reading this – I'm sincerely sorry.

It's not like I'm trying to outline how _different_ Hikaru and I are.

_Oh_. Such a dirty word.

Different.

No, I'm not trying to preach our… _differences_.

Because, yes, we are alike. Physically, even Mom can't tell us apart. Sometimes, Hikaru can't even tell us apart, and he's _part_ of us.

The problem is that, for him, there isn't any line between _Hikaru_ and _Kaoru_.

There is for me.

I know just where I stop and he begins.

And there is nothing I want more than to cross the line.


	15. Lout

Today, a girl called me a lout.

She did. I went on autopilot and must have reflexively said something mean. She hit me in the face with a teacup (not to mention lukewarm tea) and said, "You're a lout!"

Oddly, this did not ingratiate us to her. Icily, I said, "Lice."

"What?"

"I am not a lout; _we_ are _lice_. Get it right next time."

"He's not a lout," she said, pointing to Kaoru. "Just you."

I stood up quickly. "How dare you insinuate that-"

She whirled and stalked away.

I almost went after her, but Kaoru tugged on my sleeve.

"It's fine, Hikaru. We don't both have to be lice."

_It's not fine, Kaoru! _


	16. Wolves

Wolves.

You hear about them in fairy tales and myths. They kill people and eat grandmas.

We heard about them at the same time as we heard about Black Peter, Santa Claus, and all those other things that common children should both fear and revere.

I didn't care about them. Kaoru had a nightmare.

Hearing him scream, feeling him thrash against me in the bed…

Don't use my voice and my body, Kaoru! Don't get eaten by wolves _looking like me!_

I hated it. I hated _him_.

I told Dad that I was crying because I had had the nightmare, too.


	17. Girls Pt 1

Inspired by RizaMustang24. She asked, I considered.

* * *

Girls are entertaining. Especially the simpering ones. 

The ones who hang on our every word, who could either cry or squeal based on one phrase…

Such control. Such a _rush_.

The ones like Haruhi are simply harder to break. A good way to kill time, at least.

We haven't actually met a girl our age that's like our mother. Sometimes serious, mostly… well, loud. Attention-grabbing.

A girl like Mom would be a lot of fun.

But then, Kaoru's a lot like her already.

And sometimes he gets a lot more frank, just like Dad.

Girls aren't as good as Kaoru.


	18. Girls Pt 2

Brother to the previous thing.

* * *

Girls are… bothersome.

They serve a purpose. Procreation, and all that.

That's later on. Right now, they just… make noise.

Simple enough to learn the phrases that are sure to make them love us. Then the fun is gone and it's all just mechanical.

At least there is an excuse for Hikaru to act like he loves me. I mean… you know what I mean.

But it's still an act. He's doing it mechanically, because he's mirroring me instinctively.

Mechanics are the only way to stay aloof in front of the girls.

They can tell fake tears from real ones.


	19. Hate

Augh. Kaoru depresses me.

* * *

We don't hate anyone.

It would be useless. _Hating_ someone means that they have value enough to deserve more than being ignored, and there isn't anyone like that. The guys – and Haruhi – are nice enough. We don't hate them.

We can dislike people, of course. We can prefer not being around them to actually meeting them face-to-face; that's not the same thing.

To hate someone takes time, passion, and a drive.

There's no one outside us that deserves that much attention, ever.

I could never hate Hikaru. I could never hate any part of us.

'Myself' isn't part of us.


	20. Watch Pt 1

I like to watch Kaoru.

He lifts a cup, puts it to his lips, moves his throat, sets the cup down again, and smiles. It is indescribably… lovely. He looks so soft and pure. I want to protect him forever…

It's even better because he likes to watch me, too, and I can see the exact same look staring back at me. We're never not going to be there for each other.

But then he flicks his wrist nervously, and I don't do that.

He looks suddenly lonesome, without me.

And Kaoru should never be alone.

Have I failed him?


	21. Watch Pt 2

I like to watch Hikaru.

All the time. Writing, thinking, laughing, moving or staying still, it's all _Hikaru_ and it's all so much like me that it hurts.

Sometimes, he's watching back and he wants to protect me so badly… And all I can think about is how naïve and cute he is, trusting in an _always_ that won't be and putting so much faith in me to hold up my end of the bargain.

So, I have to try to protect that blind faith.

If he'll find out some day… so be it.

But it won't be from me.


	22. Pillow

This one's cute.

* * *

A pillow is something soft to lay your head on. There is no possible way to have an opinion about it.

Or so I thought, right up until Hikaru decided to steal mine in order to sit up in bead and look up things online. With a laptop, you know.

That's all fine and dandy, but I don't have a pillow.

So instead, he lets me use his lap. I have to put my right ear to his stomach and curl up to keep from slipping face first into No Man's Land.

And he said that it's his turn tomorrow.


	23. Candle

A lit candle makes the darkness deeper.

Everything dances and wobbles in the cozy glow, and he doesn't see the things lurking outside the candle's light.

All Hikaru can see is my face, just barely in the light. Not what's behind it.

But candles burn down.

Their wicks are consumed, the wax flows away, and the light dies.

The light dies...

…And darkness returns.

And the darkness isn't so deep that he won't see this thing that is me hiding there.

So when the candle burns down, he'll know. He'll know me.

He'll know that I betrayed him.

My Hikaru…


	24. Sleepover

When we were eight, Mom took charge of our birthday party.

By 'take charge' we mean that she obtained our class manifest through bribery and invited every single child via their parents.

So, everyone came with that moderately terrified atmosphere of a parental force-march to their doom.

Keep in mind that we didn't get along with anyone then, not even the girls.

We had dress-up for the girls – 'we' being our designer mother – and fort-building for the boys – spearheading by Dad.

And, left alone with them for five minutes, we got them all to cry and go home.

Mission accomplished.


	25. Enlightenment

Well. You may not have known this, but…

I'm in love with Hikaru.

And he's not in love with me.

_Which hurts_.

Luckily, there is alcohol.

Don't tell me we're underage – what are adult servants for?

So, one day, alcohol happened. And then various other things happened.

One thing led to another, and I achieved Enlightenment.

Technically, so did Hikaru, but he doesn't remember.

Fortunately.

Well, once is enough, isn't it? I needed liquid courage to say I loved him the first time; how could I possibly do it again?

I don't think about it.

But I still love him.


	26. War

I am at war with myself.

Hikaru is so worry-free and bright and solid and he's never going to change.

But _I am_.

I can feel it. Not day to day; it's too small for that. But as time goes on, the gap is growing. I'm running as fast as I can, just to act the same.

I have to fight the new me, the Outside me.

Because I can't let Hikaru see. I won't betray him.

I know that, if I lose the war -

_- and I know I will, it's so hopeless – _

_- _Hikaru will be disappointed.


	27. Kyouya

Kyouya is a lot like us.

He doesn't like people. Just in general, I mean. They're all flighty, immature, political _targets_ for which to aim.

Meanwhile, we just don't like people.

We're probably a bit stupid to him; we have the potential of being protégés but refuse to realize it.

Or maybe he just won't teach us. He isn't exactly a happy guy.

He doesn't want anyone else to go through what he has…

…Or maybe he just doesn't want any competition.

We can never really tell. Not with Kyouya.

He knows how not to be read.

What a perfectionist…


	28. Art

I can draw. Kind of.

That is, I might be able to draw if I tried.

I used to be prolific. I doodled on every piece of homework.

When I figured that I was good enough, I drew us. Looking at Hikaru during class as a model for both, of course.

That sketch of Hikaru was beautiful. I wanted to show him right then, but he would have thought that a picture of just him was sacrilegious.

So I drew me.

And I was twisted and ugly and horrible and looked nothing like him.

I never drew again, after that.


	29. Swimming

I like swimming with Kaoru.

Ever since we got into high school, we've figured out that most guys don't see other guys naked all the time. So the only chance that I have to check how Kaoru is, in a sense, _coming along_ is swimming.

Physically, we're the same.

But, at the same time, I see him all scantily-clad and damp and glistening mercilessly…

And I can't help but imagine that drunken adventure that he doesn't remember.

I mean… at least one such experience is normal, right? Nothing came of it…

I only think about it when we go swimming.


	30. Surprises

I woke up in the middle of the night, because Kaoru was having a nightmare next to me.

No, not a nightmare.

A very… _very_ pleasant dream.

All I could do was try to get back to sleep and ignore _ignore_ him.

But he was making noises.

Not particularly loud noises… but right in my ear.

And… they were _personal_ noises.

He was telling the other person in the dream that he loved them.

Who does Kaoru love?

I didn't know.

Not then.

The curiosity and jealousy burned inside me until…

Until he said, "Hikaru."

And I…

He meant it?


	31. Amiss

I woke up today and Hikaru was not Hikaru.

He was jumpier, more disturbed, kept looking at me as though I was the one gone insane.

I don't know what's wrong and I can't ask him because it might be something I should already know.

Besides, I'm not sure that I can look him in the face after the dream I had last –

Oh.

Last night.

There were dream-touches and… and _sounds_…

Oh, no.

What was out loud? What did he hear?

If I said…

If he _heard_…

...That…

I've lost him.

If he knows…

My life is over.


	32. Breakfast

They know that something's wrong.

We were eating breakfast, and Mom rang the 'Trade Clothes' bell like normal.

I could see that Kaoru was eyeing her butterfly pin, but he looked at me first.

I didn't move.

He didn't move either, lowering his head and shoving his eggs around.

Mom and Dad stared at us, and had to settle for trading with each other.

And then the questions came; were things alright in school? Was this something we needed to talk about?

I let Kaoru field the questions.

But I could feel his eyes on me the whole time.


	33. Drive

Nothing.

After that fiasco at breakfast, _nothing_.

He sits on one side of the car, suddenly best friends with the window.

I sit on my side, just… normal, the way Hikaru always is, only he's not today because he knows.

He does. For sure.

He knows I love him.

And he's not talking to me.

Which, no matter how I look at this…

…isn't good.

At all.

He isn't talking to me.

Before, it was always that we knew each other well enough not to talk… but this...

This is not talking because he doesn't know me at all.


	34. Bell

I don't know him.

The car drops us off and there are still twenty minutes before the bell. I'm so out of touch that I actually think about avoiding him by talking with other friends before remembering that we… that I don't have any.

So I sit in one corner of a wide windowsill, Kaoru right behind me – always right behind me, isn't he? Always mimicking me? – and he sits across from me.

Twenty minutes is a long time to spend with someone who is no longer part of you.

He says, "Hika-" but the bell rings and I run.


	35. Break

Sorry - there's going to be heavy angst for this day. If you hadn't gathered. So batten down the hatches.

* * *

There is actually no way that he can avoid talking to me for an entire day.

Right?

But a part of me, sitting silently in my desk and watching him chat easily with Haruhi while waiting for the next class period to begin, know that I deserve this.

The silence.

The way his eyes slide over me, writing me out of the world.

The _difference_.

But then I get nauseous and try to grip my pencil hard enough to keep from crying.

I deserve this for not being part of Us.

But there is no more Us, is there?


	36. Lunch

I don't know what to do.

This is Kaoru. _My_ Kaoru. The Kaoru that I've known for always.

Now, there's just more to him.

He's not the same as me. I can see it, now that I'm not being stupid.

Especially now, when he waits for me to start eating something before starting on his own food...

I want to scream and rant and rave and tell him to eat whatever he wants in whatever order he wants, because that's who he is, and how can I forgive if I can't know you better –

But I can't talk to him.


	37. Walk

Ouran is a very pretty place –

_– I deserve this, I deserve this – _

– But I hate being alone with my thoughts.

I hate being alone.

I've always had Hikaru before.

Now, he's right beside me and worlds away.

School is done, but there's still…

And if he's not talking to me…

Everyone's going to ask, and he'll probably just tell them, and then I'll sort of wobble and then completely implode and pay to have some scientist change my DNA.

We get close to the double-doors, and I ask, "How are we going to do the Club today?"

He doesn't answer.


	38. Club Pt 1

Kyouya doesn't ask us what was wrong, even though I saw Haruhi talking to him before.

He, very cordially, throws us to the wolves.

Five girls, all drinking tea and watching us like a forbidden fantasy cum life.

Kaoru stirs his tea and shrinks in his chair…

The giggling is unbearable.

In the middle of carrying the entire conversation, I try for an act of desperation and carefully bring a lump of sugar to his cup. "Maybe you'll like it better now, Kaoru. You always had a sweet tooth."

And then he's supposed to… to… to do something…

…Besides cry.


	39. Club Pt 2

The girls.

I can't stand the girls.

Not with Hikaru right there, turning on the charm like always. He's finally Hikaru but I'm not and I can't stand this…

And then he talks to me.

For the girls' sake. Not mine. Nothing to do with the fact that I love him and he's in the middle of savagely rejecting me.

I know what I'm supposed to do.

I'm supposed to swoon and pretend to love him…

…But I can't because it's not pretend…

…And I can't pretend to not know that he doesn't love me back…

…And I start crying.


	40. Cry

I don't hate him.

He… loves me, like _that_.

But I don't hate him.

I can't talk to him, either. Not now. Not after an entire day of watching him break.

What can I say? 'Sorry that I found out that you're different from me and then freaked out and didn't talk to you until now. I didn't mean it.'

No. I meant it, when I did it.

But watching him curl on himself and just bawl, like a little kid, no regard for where he is or the way he absolutely refuses to look away from me…

I can't…


	41. Run

I'm crying.

It hurts – everything's on fire, eyes and throat and cheeks and heart – but trying to stop hurts more.

Everyone is staring.

Even Hikaru.

A sick, pathetic part of me is glad.

Everyone else is trying to get the girls to clear out.

Hikaru settles it with, "Get away from him."

Then he's kneeling down, hands on my face because now I can't look him in the eye.

"Kaoru. We need to talk."

It makes me cry harder.

He takes my hand and then we _we!_ are running away.

My throat is still burning… but nothing is wrong anymore.


	42. Breathe

I don't know what I'm doing, sprinting haphazardly down the corridor with my tear-streaked brother in tow.

We pass door after door, and I pull him with me into an empty room.

I lock the door, turn around, and the wind is knocked out of me. Kaoru's arms are around my chest and his forehead is on my shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," he says.

Well. Of all things, I didn't expect that.

So I drop my arms around his waist.

My little brother.

_Who loves me_.

It doesn't change anything.

…Yes.

Yes, it does.

But Kaoru… needs protection.

"Me, too."


	43. Promise

Hikaru apologized?

I can't let myself hope...

"But you counted on me to stay a part of Us and I failed and how can anything ever be the same again?"

Hikaru's eyes - my eyes - blinked at me. "You want it to?"

I let go of him and try to back up. His arms stop me, but he hesitates and lets go.

"Of course I do! Everything was better before!"

"You've changed."

Those words hurt.

"I'll change back," I promise.

Hiakru shakes his head. "You've changed, but it's not bad. In a way... you're more alive than I've ever seen you before."


	44. Alive

Why did I say that?

I don't even know what it means!

He's been my shadow all day, showing me what he's always shown me...

But this...

Actually telling me what he wants, showing me what hurts him, really, really talking to me -

This is Kaoru.

I just don't know how much of who I knew is still in who I know.

"What I mean is… can't I know the real you?"

"But I'm," he flinches, "_different_ from you."

"We'll have something to talk about."

He shakes his head.

I say, "Give me a little credit. You're my brother."


	45. Brother

Of all the things he could have said!

"I'm your _brother_?"

"Yeah. Last time I checked."

"You're confusing the issue! I'm also _in love with you_, Hikaru!"

"You confused the issue first," he shrugs.

"_Hikaru_!"

"Fine." Hikaru closes his eyes and touches our heads together, holding my shoulders to keep me from moving back. "You've known me for all our lives. I've known you five minutes. Give me a chance to catch up, okay?"

What could I say? 'No, I would prefer that you cut to the chase and just reject me now'?

So I nodded and we went home…

…Together.


	46. Late

I've taken up watching Kaoru again.

The morning is definitely my favorite.

I used to wake him up right away and not hang around, but now I leave him until the last minute before he really needs to wake up.

He has a tendency to wrap himself in the blanket and all around me, stopping me from moving.

Finally, I say, "Kaoru."

Be blinks at me, gives me a look that would put Hunny to shame, and asks for a little longer.

It feels like a crime not to give it to him.

We've been getting to school late.

Often.


	47. Nervous

He makes me jumpy, staring like that.

Like Kyouya would, cataloging every move for contemplation and analysis.

Yeurgh.

It makes me second-guess myself. What does eating only an apple show him?

Moreover, what do I _want_ to show him?

I hand't know that it was possible to feel naked with all my clothes on.

But then he talks to me.

Asks how hilarious I thought that girl's hair looks, tell me about a book he saw and was thinking about reading…

It relaxes me.

I barely remember to stutter when he presses for my opinions, too.

Always about little things…


	48. Club Business

Tamaki said, "You know, ever since one of them started crying, the twins have been different."

Kyouya said, "Yes, we all knew that."

Hunny said cheerily, "I was worried for a while, but now the whole thing's nearly over."

"What whole thing?" Tamaki asked, abashed.

Haruhi said, "During a break earlier that day, Hikaru almost completely ignored Kaoru. Kaoru wouldn't look away. I'd never seen them like that and told Kyouya."

Kyouya said, "I extrapolated a considerable amount more, and forced them into a high-pressure situation."

"Protective instincts," Haruhi added.

Tamaki beamed. "Oh. Alright then. Good work, Host Club!"


	49. Decision

This... is solely because everyone feels compelled to honor both me and this story lately. A while ago, Sambucivox asked to translate Temperature into Spanish. This morning, mifril asked the same only into Russian. Um... do either of you know how _amazingly superly specially awesomely great _you both are? I feel... special. Loved. That warm inner burn you get from mouth to stomach after one swallow of good whiskey. ...How would I know that? I'm just sixteen and people are translating my writing into _two_ different languages...!

Ahem. Moving on.

* * *

I've come to a decision.

I'm not going anywhere. No matter what. Kaoru isn't, either.

Would it be so bad if I took a tiny _tiny, what an understatement_ chance?

Logically, there's only two different ways that it could end up…

…And a fifty percent chance of extreme happiness is a very good chance.

Right?

Right.

And I love Kaoru. He's the only person that I really, truly love – I mean, yeah, Mom and Dad, but I'd never go people-watching with either of them.

He seems a bit surprised at my risk-taking ways.

Maybe I'll warn him beforehand next time.


	50. Insane

Um.

Life is normal…

I'm working on letting Hikaru know me…

And then life decides to go _absolutely insane_.

Why is Hikaru kissing me?

I don't remember alcohol happening this time.

Hikaru got me to rant about how much I strongly dislike it when girls look at him and then…

Well.

You know.

In-fricken-sane.

Why am I thinking about this?

Hikaru's _kissing me_. Unprompted.

…Religion's right.

Is that a tongue?

And then the world ends and the kiss is over.

"I think it's worth the risk, even if we're not drunk," he says.

Then more kissing.

Waitaminute…

"_You remember that?!?_"

* * *

...And that could be the end. In theory. Fifty is a nice, round number. I'm pretty sure that some of you expected me to stop at fifty. Meh. You guys decide. More? Or is this an ending? It tied things up... nice callback to the alcohol. I liked the alcohol.  



	51. Addendum

Oh.

By the way.

Sequel.

It's called Perfect, because I rule at titling these sort of loosely-related collections.

The key to my success is this: whatever the title of the first one is, so shall the whole thing be named.

There are eight chapter-thingies up so far. Continuing with the 100-word drabbles, of course.

There's trouble in paradise...


End file.
